In a land far away

I have a story to tell. It may take me a while you see. It starts in a land far away across the sea and then it comes home to stay.
I was born and raised in Alabama though I was conceived in England. My mother came over on a ship when she was about 6 months pregnant and was only 18 years old. She almost lost me at sea, so there was a possibility that I would not have been here.
After she was here and I was born not long after she became pregnant again and she had my baby sister. We are only 14 months apart. Now you would think what a happy little family we had, but that is not so true. For you see my mother was here in a strange land far away from her family in England and she missed them very much. Well as time went on she and my daddy didn't get along very well and she made a very tough decision to return to her homeland across the sea.
She left behind her two little girls and thought she would never see them again.
Our grandparents raised us and our grandmother keep in touch with her for a long while. Our grandmother would send pictures and we would get letters and cards from her and our other relatives in England.
As time went on her little girls grew up, married and had families of their own. It would be years before she would see only one of her babies again.

I wrote her letters for over 2 years, sending pictures of my family and her only grandson. During our writings I ask her if she had a telephone and could I call her. My next letter came and had a number. On Christmas day, 1996 I made a phone call that changed my life forever. When she answered the phone we could hardly talk for crying. I had sent her a homemade pound cake for Christmas and she had just cut it when I called. We talked several time for the next few months. I wanted to go to England so bad, but knew it would be almost impossible to do.

Then on Mother's Day 1997 in church that Sunday our pastor said there was someone in the congregation that was going to make a trip and see someone they had not seen since childhood. I had never told anyone at church about my situation or wanting to see my mother but I knew then that he was talking about me. So soon afterward I started making plans to make the long trip to England.

More to come......

Hope everyone has a blessed day.

Til we meet again....
Jo